


Cinnamon

by corvidae9



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Ginny is tired of people's bad pickup lines, Neville's line was actually a good one though, and he's gonna prove it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-08-25
Updated: 2005-08-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:55:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22859596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvidae9/pseuds/corvidae9
Summary: Neville takes great pains to defend his opinions. (Neville/Ginny)
Relationships: Neville Longbottom/Ginny Weasley
Kudos: 8





	Cinnamon

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on LJ for coffee_n_cocoa, who requested a drabble featuring Neville/Ginny/Dark green/Bathe/Cinnamon.The information on Cinnamon came for the most part verbatim from The Epicentre Encyclopedia of Spices

Neville is not a Ravenclaw, and though he is far from stupid, logic and research are not his strong points.

When he tells Ginny she reminds him of Cinnamon, she faces him down and makes him cringe. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean, Longbottom? That's so obvious. Red hair. Brown freckles. Blah blah blah. Spicy. Get creative."

Watching as she rolls her eyes and walks away, Neville sets his jaw. There are some things he knows better than anyone, and he's stubborn enough to prove it.

Neville is a Gryffindor through and through, though some days it takes a little push for it to show.

###

Ginny found a note tucked around her silverware the next morning, a cursory look around at the entirely oblivious students around her enough to tell that she was the only such recipient. Mumbling, "odd," under her breath, a dish of warm porridge appeared as she unrolled and read the note.

_Cinnamon is the inner bark of a tropical evergreen tree of the laurel family. There are many different species, between 50 and 250, depending on which botanist you choose to believe (I'm of the opinion that there are between 178 and 195). The two main varieties are Cinnamomum cassia and Cinnamomum zeylanicum. C. zeylanicum is also known as Ceylon cinnamon (the source of the its Latin name, zeylanicum), or ‘true cinnamon’ which is a lighter colour and possessing a sweeter, more delicate flavour than cassia. A native of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) the best cinnamon grows along the coastal strip near Colombo._

_I asked Dobby to make sure to use Ceylon cinnamon in your breakfast today. I hope you enjoy it._

Perplexed, Ginny set the note down and leaned over the warm dish, inhaling deeply, noticing just a slight difference, but still...

It occurred to her that the note was unsigned, though the incident with Neville immediately came to mind. Her eyes snapped up to find Neville watching her, his eyes dropping to concentrate on his eggs instead. Ginny studied the set of his shoulders for a moment; the bitten lip and overly careful gestures, as if trying very hard not to make a mess of things. It was endearing, really.

The porridge was the best she'd ever had; better even than Mum's. Ginny intended to walk over and say thank you, but by the time she was done, he was gone.

###

Luna took her seat next to Ginny in Charms and Ginny took a double take at her earrings, today consisting of cinnamon sticks of varying length.

Ginny waved her hand in the direction of Luna's ears and frowned. "Hold up - did Neville put you up to... that?"

Turning her huge blue eyes on Ginny, Luna smiled. "No. But he did ask me to give you this. The theme inspired me. Did you know that in the ancient world, cinnamon was more precious than gold?"

She handed Ginny a small bunch of yellowish-white flowers, tied off with twine and a single cinnamon stick, with yet another note attached.

_The Cinnamomum zeylanicum is from a tropical evergreen tree of the laurel family growing up to 7m in its wild state. It has deeply-veined ovate leaves that are dark green on top, lighter green underneath. The bark is smooth and yellowish. Both the bark and leaves are aromatic. It has small yellowish-white flowers with a disagreeable odour that bear dark purple berries._

_The outer bark, cork and the pithy inner lining are scraped off and the remaining bark is left to dry completely, when it curls and rolls into quills. Several are rolled together to produce a compact final product, which is then cut into uniform lengths and graded according to thickness, aroma and appearance._

Sniffing at the flowers, Ginny wrinkled her nose and held them a bit away from her face, confused as to what point it may have served to send a girl flowers that, quite frankly, stank. "Um..."

Nodding wisely, Luna added, "Yes. They're rather pretty, but they're just window dressing. The important stuff is underneath and on the inside. You know, that reminds me of--"

Ginny had no idea, as at that moment Professor Flitwick ascended his mountain of textbooks and began the second part of his lecture on Banishing. She set aside the flowers and looked at them from time to time, considering.

###

Expecting another lesson in the fine qualities of common spices, lunch in the Great Hall was uneventful in the extreme. Almost disappointed, Ginny stood to sling her bag over her shoulder and make her way to the next class, when she realized that there was a small bundle sitting on top of the open flap. Curious, she unwrapped what turned out to be a small wealth of star-shaped biscuits, and didn't have to breathe the scent in to know what they smelled like.

**_Traditional Uses:_ ** _Possibly most the common baking spice, Cinnamon is used in cakes, cookies, and desserts throughout the world._

_~~(There's no deep message for this one, except for the fact that it smells good and makes things better. Um. But that's a message in and of itself, I suppose oh shite~~ _

Ginny laughed and ate the first biscuit in two bites, smiling and rubbing her belly exaggeratedly, a little disappointed that Neville did not seem to be anywhere near to witness the display. She took one more and rewrapped them carefully, setting them back in her bag and sighing as she exited to return to class.

###

Ginny laughed out loud as she walked into Transfiguration to find the chalkboard at the front of the classroom charmed with the following message; the rest of the class giggling and wondering what the message meant:

_Bouquet: sweet and fragrant_  
Flavour: warm and aromatic  
Hotness Scale: ~~3~~ 10 

Impressed, Ginny shook her head with a grin and took a seat.

She'd always thought that she was one of the few who did not underestimate Neville Longbottom. Apparently, she'd been incorrect about that as well.

###

Early finish today, meaning it was practice day, and Ginny tore from her last class to the Tower, flowers and biscuits tucked safely in her bag, wholly unsurprised to find a note pinned to bulletin board.

_The Dutch captured Sri Lanka in 1636 and established a system of cultivation that exists to this day. In its wild state, trees grow high on stout trunks. Under cultivation, the shoots are continually cropped almost to ground level, resulting in a low bush, dense with thin leafy branches. From these, come the finest quills._

Furrowing her brow, she failed to see the message. She'd be taller in the wild? She owned fine quills?

Longbottom had definitely lost his mind.

Ginny pursed her lips, still thinking as she ran up the staircase to change; pondering as she stripped off her kit and changed into her Quidditch gear, catching sight of the of small scars on her arm left from her experiences in the Chamber...

Um. Seemingly adverse circumstances yield the best cinnamon?

Frowning, she pulled her gloves on. That was stupid. There had to be something else to it. She was nothing special, but she definitely had a talent for convincing people otherwise.

###

Immediately following practice, a tired, sore, sweaty Ginny hopped exuberantly down from her broom, congratulating the team on a good practice. No one had questioned Ginny's appointment as team captain in Harry's absence, and she'd given them no reason to doubt her.

Her plan for the evening involved a bath, possibly some dinner and then a good deal of revision in pyjamas. Oh. And shite. Potions essay, thankfully not nearly as torturous in the wake of That Bastard's departure.

The common room erupted in cheers as she returned amidst the team, the entire house worked up over Saturday's match with Slytherin, and she spent a good half-hour engaged in a heated discussion over tactics with Colin before she remembered that she smelled like wet dog.

Excusing herself, she ran upstairs again for her things only to find a small note tucked in her glove.

_The demand for cinnamon was enough to launch a number of explorers’ enterprises._

Ha. Very clever. And a nice trick, to boot.

Pyjamas, dressing gown and toiletries in hand, she rushed down the hall to the Prefect's Bath hoping to beat...

Wait. Attached to the door was a note that read "Out of Order - Sorry for the Inconvenience".

Immediately recognizing the familiar handwriting, Ginny was not fooled. She pulled the note off of the door and turned it over.

_Thought you could use the reservation._

Ginny threw her head back and laughed hard, genuinely amused now. Still laughing, she strolled into the room only to stop mid-stride, momentarily stunned as the door clicked shut behind her.

The bath had been transformed; thick jungle plants and trees surrounded the sunken tub, impossibly fat flowers and very realistic animal and bird sounds floated about the room. Ginny blinked and dropped her things, walking up to the steaming basin, the scent of cinnamon wafting from the star-shaped bubbles lazily floating in a thick layer on the surface.

With a huff of disbelief, Ginny crouched near the edge and dipped her fingers in the water, about as hot as she could stand it, and blinked hard. She straightened and circled the room, sure it was empty, coming back around to the door and considering it for a moment before pulling it open, smirking.

###

Neville was fairly surprised at himself; the lengths to which he found himself going to prove her wrong. The idea had been to show her how special she was; how exotic, disguised as common; how generally perfect...

Perhaps he'd gone too far. Nervous, he hovered down the hall from the Prefect's Bath, debating over whether he should run in and remove the charms before-- damn. Too late.

His chewed nails gripped the fastenings of his school robes as he watched her pull the note off of the door and walk in; somewhat smiling; hoping she wouldn't run screaming out; hoping he hadn't scared her...

But nothing did happen. Neville breathed a sigh of relief after a moment, debating where he should wait, finally deciding on the alcove at the other end of the corridor and that way--

"Huh?"

Ginny was holding the door to the Bath open, wry grin firmly in place. "Fine. You made your point. What's this...", she punctuated her sentence with a sweeping gesture indicating the room now resembling a jungle, "...all about?"

Looking down at his fidgeting hands, Neville began speaking in a low murmur that increased in volume and stability as he discussed a subject in which he was in fact, rather well versed. "Cinn--cinnamomum zeylanicum prefers a hot, wet tropical climate at a low altitude. I um. Hope you don't mind. I needed a little bit of help with some of the charms, b-b-b-but I um. got help. It's also a fact that cinnamon makes very bad bathing oil, 'cos it sort of stings. But you can transfer the scent fairly easily by taking the bark and--"

Ginny cocked her head, a slow smile spreading wickedly as she listened. With a cursory nod and an, "Uh-huh," she grabbed him by the tie and yanked him through the door, locking it carefully behind him. "Tell me more."


End file.
